Chiefs Coordinator Quotes
November 30, 2023
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE TOUB
Q: What can Ekow Boye-Doe provide to the special teams unit?
TOUB: “We’re glad we got him (Ekow Boye-Doe) on the 53 (man roster). He provides a lot of speed, that’s probably the number one thing you have with him. He plays a lot of the obviously speed positions – gunner, corner, for us. Hopefully he’s up. If he’s up, we’ll use him.”
Q: What are your overall thoughts on your returners?
TOUB: “You know we’ve had some injuries obviously with Mecole (Hardman), we planned on using Mecole but then that changed. 19 (Kadarius Toney) got in there, and he provided a spark and he’s probably our most dynamic guy. I mean it’s easy to say that now seeing what he can do, but he was banged up last week and I’m not sure how much I’m going to be able to use him. Richie (James) is back in the mix. Richie, I felt good about before he got hurt earlier in the year. It’ll be Richie James, that’s where we’re at right now.”
Q: What’s been the biggest change with special teams units across the league?
TOUB: “There is no question that the kickers and punters have gotten better over the years. That’s why all of the rules have changed in catching the ball within the ten. All those things are changing because the kickers and punters are so good, and they just keep getting better and better every year. Just like the athletes keep getting better, the corners and safeties and wideouts get faster. It’s the same thing that’s happening with the kickers and punters.”
Q: The kickers and punter are getting bigger too, right?
TOUB: “They’re bigger, yeah. This week we’re playing a 6’ 5” guy (Packers K Anders Carlson) and a 6’ 3” guy (Packers P Daniel Whelan). Those are their guys. I mean they’re taller than (Harrison) Butker and Butker is one of the biggest. They’re bigger type guys that can bang the ball, it’s impressive.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE SPAGNUOLO
Q: How have you seen Drue Tranquill develop in the starting role?
SPAGNUOLO: “To me, that might be one thing that goes unnoticed. I think the guys as a group are playing really well – except for that beginning quarter of the last game, I still can’t forget that. What I think gets lost in the whole translation here is we lost a really good football player in Nick Bolton for a number of games here and yet – I think I’ve said this before – we slide Drue (Tranquill) in there and really haven’t skipped a beat in terms of having to cut things back, the communication, you guys know that the back end and linebackers have to be like this (hands together motion) – the chemistry. We didn’t lose that at all – and sometimes that happens. I’ve been down that road before where the mike linebacker whose been the communicator and the signal caller, we’ve lost them, and it takes a little while. But we didn’t skip a beat with Drue, we’re really fortunate we got him. I mean (General Manager) Brett Veach and his crew identifying him as a player we could get and him being willing to come here knowing that we had a lot of linebackers. He’s a team guy. I know his teammates love him, and I love what he’s doing for us so I can’t say enough about Drue.”
Q: So much of the defense is made up of guys you drafted in the later rounds. Is it remarkable to you how you’ve been able to hit on so many of those picks?
SPAGNUOLO: “I tell you what, I don’t typically think of it in (those) terms until it’s brought up and then I think about it a little bit now. I will say this, it’s really good work in identifying some characteristics that we look for and then I think it’s really good development by coaches and teachers that are here developing those guys. If somebody is getting drafted lower and assuming the whole NFL world is accurate, that that’s a lower round draft pick and that player becomes something we didn’t think – somebody is doing something right. I’m talking about the coaching and the development. So, our assistant coaches I think are doing a great job. But it began with (General Manager) Brett Veach and his staff identifying guys. The great thing about Brett is that he is always communicating with us on, ‘What do you need, what fits for you, what kind of characteristics are you looking for?’ And it’s been like that from the beginning. That’s why I think he’s one of the best in the business because (of) the collaboration with players is terrific.”
Q: What is different about the way you develop here versus other places you have been?
SPAGNUOLO: “Well our side of the ball has been the same wherever I’ve been because that’s just what I believe in. I know (Head Coach) Andy (Reid) believes in the same thing, that we’re really just teachers. We’ve always identified good teachers – I’m talking about the guys we hire as coaches. I think that we have that. I think that Coach Reid has always expressed that in guys he’s brought in here that’s the number one thing he’s looking for. I don’t think we ever get away from – as a head coach, as coordinators – we ever get away from pounding the details, the fundamentals. It’s not all about scheme, it’s more about all that stuff we’re talking about and I think that leads to the development of players.”
Q: What did you tell the defense after getting down 0-14 last week?
SPAGNUOLO: “We rallied up over there on the sideline at one point, and I had a list of about five or six things that happened on five or six key plays and they were all – two or three of them were things that we had worked on and we didn’t do them like we did in practice and I just told them, my point was, ‘If we can just clean these up, we won’t be in the situation we’re in. We have to grind our way back.’ To the guys credit I thought they did that. We got back mentally. We had a couple of things that should have been handled a certain way and weren’t, and we had done it in practice. It wasn’t something that was new to them, so they shook it off, got the cobwebs out and got it right.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MATT NAGY
Q: You have been more successful on third-and-shorts. How do you feel about this part of your offense?
NAGY: “It’s been better. It’s been more effective and whether you run or pass, you want to convert it. It’s been an emphasis for us, we want to attack where we think we can be a little better and enhancing where we think we’re playing well, but that’s for sure. It’s nice to be able to get those, whether you run or pass. I think a lot of it does come down to a mindset. There’s going to be times where they make good plays, but in the end, we have to execute and we want to put them in good positions as coaches. Then we just have to try to execute.”
Q: Is Rashee Rice coming along faster than your staff expected? He’s talked about not wanting to play like a robot.
NAGY: “He’s (Rashee Rice) probably come along right where we need him to come along as far as that part. No wide receiver, no quarterback, no player in general wants to play like a robot. When you are learning the offense, you probably feel like you are because you’re trying to understand, when you look at a playbook and you see a line in the playbook you want to run it like that. The more and more you start running plays you have less robot to you, and he’s just having more plays which allows him to say, ‘Okay hey, I’ve run this play seven times, and now I can put my little feel to it.’ Which is not being a robot versus earlier in the year, you haven’t had to run it so you’re going to run that line.”
Q: At this point in the season what is the offense’s identity?
NAGY: “I would say it’s a good mix right now of a run game that has improved the last couple of weeks, which helps the play/pass, and within the pass game, we understand that the downfield shots haven’t been as explosive but it’s being efficient and scoring touchdowns. Then being really really good at situational football. I think a few weeks ago you look at redzone and we were struggling there a little bit, we weren’t scoring points. We were having some turnovers, several weeks ago, couple months ago, you know third down, third-and-short, third-and-one. So really locking in during the week of being good situationally but scoring more points, and I thought we did that in the second half too. We knew that that was something we had to get better at and we scored more points in the second half.”
Q: What makes the experience at Lambeau Field so unique?
NAGY: “It’s such a huge part of football history. You know everyone talks about the fan base, and my first game as a head coach was there on Sunday Night Football I think. I’ll never forget that experience, the electricity, but all players and coaches know it, it’s a credit to them. When you’re pulling in on the bus to the stadium it’s like a college town, so it starts there but it’s just a – we all watch football growing up and you all get to see what that environment is like. It’s different in a good way, and I just have a lot of respect for them.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
November 30, 2023
S JUSTIN REID
Q: What was the attitude of the defense in the Raider’s game when down 0-14?
REID: “It was just getting back to ourselves, settling the nerves a little bit. They came out and jumped on us early. It was a divisional game, so they did some things to prepare and they were ready to go play. Once we took that, we were able to settle back into who we are offensively and defensively, special teams, too. Once we were able to settle our nerves, we were able to go out and be the dominant team that we know we can be, so it’s been an emphasis this week to make sure that we start the game out that way.”
Q: On Drue Tranquill.
REID: “Ah man, to come into this defense and to play mike (Line)backer and all the different checks and coverages and responsibilities getting the defensive line set the right way, making audibles on what coverages we’re playing and where to send the pressures at based on the looks you’re getting – it’s a lot on the mental side of it but then to also pair that with the physical ability to go in and attack centers, beat running backs on blocks, tackle tight ends and sometimes guard receivers too, he’s (LB Drue Tranquill) done a phenomenal job for us to be able to come in and do it but that’s the reason why we brought him here.”
Q: What do you think of Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo as a football mind?
REID: “Him (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) and (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid are right up there at the top. Just all types of – it’s fun to be a part of it and to learn from them, but it’s just so dynamic and the adjustments they make week to week every week is different. They’re able to create different unique pressures to really give different looks to opposing teams, so that way they never really know what’s coming at them. This – I say this all the time – this is one of the deepest playbooks and it continues to get deeper because we are always putting in new plays and to just have the guys to go out and perform it. When we perform what Coach Spags and his staff gameplan throughout the week, we play really well and that’s showing up this year because we have the right guys to go and do it but just a hell of a coach both on the field but also his level of care and commitment to his players is also what makes him such a fun guy to play for.”
Q: Are you excited to play on Lambeau Field or is it just another field to you?
REID: “I actually did training camp over there when I was with the Texans, and that was really cool. We got to do the bike ride down with some of the kids, that was really fun. I only played a quarter in that game, so this will be the first game that I get to play all the way through so I’m excited about it.”